Thursday, March 25, 2010
U.S. stock indices are trading higher overnight as sovereign debt concerns eased a little over developments ahead of the European Union summit. Last night German Chancellor Angela
Merkel said she would back aid for Greece with International Monetary Fund involvement as a “last resort”. European Central Bank President Trichet helped ease tensions by extending the bank’s
emergency lending rules. This move by Trichet was a marked change from the ECB’s decision not to soften its collateral policy to aid a single country.
Both news stories helped the Euro stabilize overnight which drove up demand for higher yielding assets, helping to boost equity prices. Later today Fed Chairman Bernanke is going to
speak about interest rates. His commentary is likely to move the markets if he makes any changes to the Fed’s outlook on the future of interest rate hikes. At this time, the Fed is committed to
keeping interest rates low for an “extended period.”
New Jobless Claims fell as the employment picture looks to be improving. Initial claims fell 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 442,000 in the …
